Avoid Vacation Disasters With Proper Planning

With a bit of preventive planning, you can rest easy during your vacation knowing that your home sweet home will be as you left it. And, you should even be able to save a few bucks while away.

There are some vacation basics of which most are aware, but they need to be reviewed.

Don't allow mail or newspapers to pile up, and don't leave the garbage cans in the street for a week.

Ask a friend or neighbor to keep an eye on your place and to gather your mail and newspapers. Also, have someone put out the trash on the appointed day and retrieve the cans promptly. If a friend or neighbor is not available, contact your local post office and newspaper to request that delivery be suspended. Garbage collection should be canceled as well.

Place one or more lamps or lights on timers that turn on and off at various times throughout the night. Exterior lighting operated by motion sensors, timers or photoelectric switches can help keep your utility bill down. In addition, consider plugging a radio into a timer that is programmed to turn on and off throughout the day.

If your home has an alarm system, be sure to activate it before you depart. Also, if the system is monitored, advise the monitoring company of your absence to ensure that they will immediately summon the police should the alarm be activated. If the alarm system is not monitored, ask a neighbor to immediately call the police if the alarm should sound.

Before going out the door for the last time, take one final walk throughout the house to make sure that all windows and doors are securely latched and locked. Swinging doors should be double bolted and sliding windows and doors should have a secondary latch. A wooden dowel placed in the window track can prevent most sliding windows from opening.

A broken water pipe can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage by flooding the crawl space, basement and rooms of the home. The spark from a faulty appliance can trigger a house fire that can consume much of your home before firefighters can arrive.

Turn off the main water source to the home. However, this often is not practical because it prevents the landscape irrigation system from keeping the yard watered. If you have such a system, turn off valves at all of the fixtures to significantly diminish the prospect of a flood.

Unlike the water system, the electricity must remain on to power the refrigerator, freezer, alarm, irrigation system and security lighting. However, heating systems and air-conditioning systems can be turned off to save money and, more important, to prevent a potential fire. Small appliances such as a toaster, mixer, food processor, stereo and television should be unplugged while you are away. And don't forget to unplug the motor for the garage door opener.

Gas appliances such as a water heater, furnace or oven should be shut off by turning the gas off at the meter or supply tank. Most local utility companies will come out to turn the gas back on and relight pilots when you return.

Be sure to have someone reliable to care for your precious pets if they're not boarded and houseplants.

Plants can be placed in a central location such as a bathtub or shower, to make watering easier for your friend or neighbor.

For more home improvement tips and information visit www.onthehouse.com.